For an information search a user employs search queries to search for desired material available at information sources. For information acquisition a user employs a variety of means, including net surfing that does not reflect any particular user intent, so as to acquire beneficial information. Generally, an information search system or an Internet web search can satisfy these kinds of requests for information. For such a search, a search keyword must be entered and transmitted to the computer system.
In a computer system having a general GUI (Graphical User Interface), a field for keyword entry is provided on a display screen. To input an entry, a cursor is moved to the input field by using a pointing device, such as a mouse. Thereafter, a search keyword is entered by using an input device, such as a keyboard, and a transmission button (submit button) is depressed to transmit the keyword to the computer system. As a result, the search keyword is transmitted to the computer system, whereat a computer system performs predetermined procedures for a search associated with the keyword. Text, an image or sound data, obtained as a result of the search, are presented to the user on the display screen, or by sound.
As a system for supporting information acquisition, a system is available for providing annotation for a word on a web browser. Examples of this are “ThirdVoice”, described in “http://www.thirdvoice.com”, or “FlySwat”, described in “http://www.flyswat.com”. These are not specific and active information acquisition methods for entering a keyword and searching for information, but rather are methods for providing annotation, such as company information, for a word, such as an organization name or a product name, that appears on a current page, and for non-specifically and passively presenting information.
Further, in an information search system using a kana-kanji conversion as a front end, there is “iATOK” described in “http://www.iatok.com”. This is a system whereby kana-kanji conversion is performed for a word that is entered to find a corresponding URL (Uniform Resource Locator). For example, when a specific company name is entered, the URL of the company is returned.
However, general computer systems are designed for use by persons with normal sight, and use by those who are sight limited. That is, since a visually impaired person can, at the best, perceive only part of the information that is presented two-dimensionally using a GUI, when performing an information search, such a person must perforce depend on his or her apprehension of a time series oral rendition of text, provided by a speech synthesis system using software and hardware, to ascertain its contents. For example, when a visually impaired person enters the form of a web page using a voice controlled browser or a screen reader, generally the succeeding user interface must be employed. First, a cursor must be moved to an input box using a pointing device, such as a mouse, and the input box selected (clicked on). Then, once a character string input dialogue box (an input field) appears, a character string must be input and the enter key depressed. Following this, the cursor must be moved to a submit button (transmission button) and the enter key depressed. This is the manner in which a visually impaired user must search for information when using a conventional computer system and appropriate software. In the event, however, depending on the page design, it is not easy to identify what kind of input field a text box is. Further, it may be difficult to find the position of a submit button because it may be located at an arbitrary position on a web form. In addition, since the page obtained as the result of a search may include much unrelated information, such as advertisements or link listings, the locating of the search results depends entirely on the experience of a user. Therefore, the user must spend much time locating input fields and information, and inputting a keyword.
Furthermore, since the annotation for an information acquisition support system is provided on the assumption that a two-dimensional display will be used, it does not provide effective information acquisition support for a visually impaired person for whom simply obtaining position information presented on a screen may be difficult or impossible.
In addition, an information search system for performing kana-kanji or other conversion as a front end merely employs a URL as a search target, and can not return other information. Further, since this system is designed for persons with normal sight, in addition to the information acquisition support system, this system does not provide effective information acquisition support for visually impaired persons.
That is, when a visually impaired person wishes to use a computer system to acquire information or to search for information, that user is faced with two difficulties: one involves the identification of an area for the entry of a keyword and the positioning of a button, and the other involves the extraction of necessary information from a page obtained as a result of a search. Since a visually impaired person accesses a computer by using one-dimensional output, i.e., the voice, it is difficult for that person to identify position information presented on a screen. Therefore, another difficulty accompanies the method employed for accessing information when using a web browser (GUI) that is designed for two-dimensional perception.